Pyrophoric lighter



C. ZELLWEGER PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Nov. 18, 1952 Filed July 31, 1951 R m w m MKW (bnrad Zellu/eder.

ATTORNEY Nov. 18, 1952 q ZELLWEGER 2,618,140

PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Filed July 31, 1951 2 SHEETS-SI-IEET 2 INVENTOR.

Conrad Ze Ila/e991:

BY I

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 18, 1952 2,618,140 PYROPHORIO LIGHTER Conrad Zellweger, Pregny-Geneva, Switzerland,

assignor to La Nationale Si A., Geneva, Switzerland, a company of Switzerlandv I ApplicationJuly'lil, 1951, Serial No. 239,472 In Switzerland February 19, 1951' 5, Claims. (01. tar-"1.1)

The present invention relates to a lighter of the type provided'with a cover spring biased to open position and released by a manual control element that requires several different movements to release the catch. The purpose of this arrangement is to provide a safeguardagainst accidental opening of the cover in the pocket of the user in case pressure should unintentionally be exerted aginst the control element.

While lighters with safety devices are known in the art, the means designed to control the opening of the cover occupies several positions, one being the latching position and the other, the active or unlatching position, but several different movements and numerous parts are necessaryto bring about the opening of the cover, and several springs are required to return the retaining catch and the control element to their normal position.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simplified construction. designed to overcome multiple parts and movements by utilizing a single control element rockably connected with the catch and a single return spring common to both.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, some embodiments of the object of the invention.

Figure l is a View, partlyin section, of the upper part of 'alighter of one form of construction.

Figure 2, is a top view-thereof, partially in section to further illustrate the control mechanism.

Figures?v and 4 aresectional elevations of another former embodiment.

Figure 5-is a detail sectional view of a further modification.

Figurejfi is a sectional elevation of the cover control mechanism of a still further form of execution.

Figure '7 is a detail plan view of the construction of Figurefi.

Figure 8 is a view'similar to Figure 6, showing the position of the elements during the closing motion of the cover.

Figures 9 and l'are detail views of the keeper means on a larger scale.

Similar, reference characters represent corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

With reference to Figure 1, it will be noted thatthe lighter I supports a burner 2 on the upper part of its fuel chamber. Cover 4 is rockably mounted on a pin which supports also the flint wheel 6. The cover is biased to open position by" conventional spring means, not shown.

The cover.4 is retained in the closed position, against the action of its spring, by, a latch, or catch 1 in the form of a lever with two arms and pivotally mounted on a pin 8 supported by the lighter body. One of the ends of the latch has a hook 9 which engages with a fixed stop or keeperconstituted' by a bar I0 of cover I under the action of a spring II. This spring, which acts on the end of the latch opposite the end carrying hook 9, is housed in a cavity I2 of a two stage control element I3 also rockably mounted on pin 8. That part of I3 which is in contact with pin 8 is provided with a slot or elongated hole I4 so as to form a guide and to permitsaid member I3 to move in a plane perpendicular to pin 8. The member I3 also has a projection .or shoulder I5 facing the edge of cover 4 when the latter is'in the closed position (see Figure 1).

The rocking motion of latch 1 under the-action of spring II is limited at its lower end by a stop It rigidly mounted on the fuel chamber. As shown by the drawing, latch 1 is housed in a central slot of the control member I3 (Figure 2), and there is provided radially relative to pin 8, a clearance between part I! of control element I3 and part I8 of catch 1.

The operation of this device is as follows:

With the elements in the position shown in Figure l, to open cover .4, the first thing to do is to actuate control member I3 in the direction of arrow I9 to cause itto rock on axis 8 and to change from the inactive orlockingpositi0n into a'position to be active to release the cover. To achieve this result, element I3 must turn through a sufficient angle so that shoulder I 5 willno longer face the edge of cover l which, in the closed position, constitutes a fixed abutment rela tive, to member I3. This motion compresses spring I I with the result that the bearing engagement of latch I with keeper I0 of the cover is increased. This constitutes the first stage of movement and provides the margin of safety desired.

After control member I 3 has turned sufiiciently so that the shoulder I5 no longer prevents an inward motion on its pivoting axis 8, said member I3 is in the active position and is caused to slide in slot I4 perpendicularly to said .axis. After a slight inward displacement, corresponding to theclearance provided between facing shoulders I? and I8 of the control member and the latch, the former drives the latter and the latch rocks on its axis until hook.9 releases keeper bar ID of the cover, which then opens under the action of its spring. This further movement is the second stage.

With reference to Figures 3 and 4, it will be seen that the latch or catch 1 has an inwardly curved or arcuate edge part l whose curvature is substantially concentric with pin 8, and which terminates in a shoulder 1 ending approximately at the height of pin 8. Control member l3 has a projection Il designed to slide under the shoulder 1* for the purpose of actuating the catch.

The arrangement of the elements described in Figures 3 and 4 is such that when control member I3 is actuated in the direction of arrow I9 to bring about the opening of cover 4, part I! of the control member slides on part I of the catch until it reaches shoulder 1* under which it becomes jammed. Thus, only after this rocking motion can pressure be exerted on catch 1, by pushing the control member inward and upward, to disengage catch 1 from stop I13 and release cover 4 by causing the control element to slide on pin 8, because of slot I l, as shown in Figure 4.

It will be seen from the position of the elements shown in Figure 3, that it is impossible to actuate catch 1 by a simple radial push of the control member and that an angular displacement in the direction of arrow I9 is necessary. This arrangement makes it also possible to prevent control member [3 from pivoting on the edge of cover 4 at the beginning of its actuating stroke such as can happen in the first form of construction.

In the example of Figure 5, slot l4 of control member [3 is replaced by a circular opening M which surrounds pin 8 of the catch with sufficient clearance to permit both rocking and sliding motion of said member. The operation is the same as that described in connection with Figures 3 and 4.

Referring now to Figures 6 to 8, body l of the lighter supports a latch 26 rockably mounted on a pin 2|. On the upper surface of the fuel chamber is a spring leaf 22 bent as two places in such a way as to present two substantially parallel end parts 22 and 22 and a middle section 22 which is substantially perpendicular relative to the two other end parts. Leaf 22 is fastened at its end 22 by means of a screw 23. Its part 22 has a slot 24 through which passes the latch 20. At its free end, part 22 supports a push button 25, the head 25 of which projects through an opening 2? in the lighter body. Said head 26 forms a shoulder 28 on button 25. In the at-rest position, the edge of cover 29 comes to bear against said shoulder 28. Cover 29 supports a keeper bar 33 which is engaged by latch 29 under the action of spring 22.

As shown by the drawing, latch 23 is en ergized by leaf 22 when part 22 of the catch is longitudinally displaced by means of push button 25. To effect such displacement, the push button must be moved out of its at-rest position (Figure 6) in which it is held by spring 22, by displacing it vertically downward by its head 26, in slot 21 of the lighter body. This results in shoulder 28 becoming disengaged from the lower edge of cover 29. The control element is now in the active position. By pushing it inwardly of the lighter, leaf 22 causes catch 21 to slide on keeper bar 39 so that the cover opens under the action of its spring (not shown).

When the cover is to be closed, keeper bar 3H slides on the inclined part 3! of the upper end of latch 20 (Figure 8)). This increases the tension of spring 22 until the hook of the latch engages keeper bar 30. The elements return then to the position shown in Figure 6.

In all forms of construction, the pivot axis of the latch as well as the keeper of the cover may be constituted either by a simple tube 32 riveted at its ends as shown in Figure 9, or by a cylindrical pin 33 forcibly driven into a tube 3 forming stops between the lateral walls of the lighter body or of the cover, as shown in Figure 10.

I claim:

1. In an automatic lighter having a body sup porting the flint wheel and the burner, a cover spring biased to open position, a keeper on the cover, and safety latch means on the body for cooperation with said keeper, said means including a latch element pivoted medially thereof to the body and having an outwardly facing hook portion at its upper end, a stop abutment on the body for engaging the lower end of the latch element, and a manually operated two stage control element having an elongated opening whose long axis intersects the pivot axis of the latch element and is oscillatable thereabout, a spring having one end bearing against the lower end of the latch element and tending normally to force the same toward the stop abutment, the opposite end of the spring bearing against the control element and tending normally to keep the inner end of the opening about the pivot of the latch element, said latch element turning in its first stage to energize the spring and force the lower end of the latch member against the stop abutment and maintain the hook portion in tightened engagement with the keeper ele ment, and said latch element in its second stage turning to move the long axis of the opening past dead center to permit the said element to move inwardly limited by the outer end of the opening engaging the pivot axis of the latch and permit the lower end of the latch to move out wardly away from the abutment and the hook portion thereof to disengage the keeper on the cover, said control element and latch upon manual release returning to their normal position.

2. An automatic lighter according to claim 1, wherein the spring is located in a socket in the control element, and the latch element and control element are provided with normally spaced apart shoulders which engage during the second stage of movement of the control element to assist in the inward movement of the control element.

3. An automatic lighter according to claim 1, wherein the latch element has an arcuate inner edge terminating in an angularly disposed shou1 der and the control member has a projection which initially rides on a portion of said arcuate inner edge and escapes therefrom to move beneath said shoulder to permit the pivot for the latch element to move to the outer end of the slot of the control member and 'enable the latch element to release the keeper on the cover.

4. An automatic lighter according to claim 1, wherein the opening is circular and of greater diameter than the pivot of the latch element.

5. In an automatic lighter having a body supporting the flint wheel and the burner, a cover spring biased to open position, a keeper on the cover, and safety latch means on the body for cooperation with said keeper, said means including a latch element pivoted at its lower end to the body and having an outwardly facing keeper engaging hook portion at its upper end, and a manually operated two stage control element comprising a leaf spring having a central vertical flexing portion and an upper outwardly extending arm having a slot receiving the medial portion of the latch element and a lower rearwardly extending arm, means for securing the latter arm to the body, a push button secured to the outer end of the upper arm and exposed through an opening in the body, a shoulder on the body receiving the outer edge of the cover and normally preventing the push button from accidentally being pushed inward, and said push button upon being manually moved downwardly moving the shoulder away from the edge of the 6 cover and then adapted to move inwardly against the tension of the vertical flexing portion whereby the outer end of the slot therein rocks the latch element to disengage its hook portion from the keeper on the cover.

CONRAD ZELLWEGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

